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Circle tops revenue expectations on strong stablecoin circulation, shares surge

By Thomson Reuters Feb 25, 2026 | 5:29 AM

Feb 25 (Reuters) – Circle surpassed Wall Street expectations for fourth quarter revenue on Wednesday, as income from reserves got a boost from a rise in ​circulation of its stablecoin token, sending its shares ‌surging over 15% in premarket trading.

USDC, Circle’s primary stablecoin, is seeing a surge in adoption as favorable regulations such as the GENIUS Act, which was signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump last ‌year, ​establish a federal framework for dollar-pegged ⁠stablecoins.

Regulators around the world ⁠have also stepped up frameworks to oversee these digital assets, paving the way for their broader adoption and benefiting issuers such as Circle.

USDC is a token pegged ​to the U.S. dollar, backed by reserves of cash and other low-risk assets such as U.S. treasuries that ⁠tether its market price close to ⁠the benchmark of $1.

Circulation of USDC rose 72% ​from a year earlier to $75.3 billion in the fourth quarter, ​lifting total revenue from reserves to $733 million.

The firm earns ‌revenue by investing the cash received for its issued tokens in low-risk assets such as U.S. treasuries and deposits and pocketing the yield.

It has recently struck key partnerships, ⁠including with payments giant Visa, allowing U.S. institutions to settle transactions using USDC. It has also positioned itself in the prediction ⁠markets through a ‌tie-up with Polymarket.

During the quarter, Circle received ⁠preliminary approval to establish a national trust ​bank charter, ‌a major move that could further integrate ​digital assets ⁠into the banking system.

Total revenue and reserve income rose 77% to $770 million, beating analysts’ average estimate of $739 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Total on-chain transaction volumes in USDC rose 247% to $11.9 trillion.

(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru Editing ​by Anil D’Silva)